


The Human Mind

by shelwass



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Community: trope_bingo, F/M, Mind Control, Missing Scene, Tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2013-04-28
Packaged: 2017-12-09 19:03:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/776938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelwass/pseuds/shelwass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the incident with the Sycorax, the Doctor explains blood control and timelines...and all the reasons he deposed Harriet Jones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Human Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Trope Bingo](http://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org): Mind Control. Part of my [Before They Were Lovers 'verse](http://www.whofic.com/series.php?seriesid=3456) on Teaspoon. Takes place right after the Christmas Invasion.

“So it’s like mind control, yeah?” Rose took a sip of her tea, glancing sideways at the Doctor, taking him in. Casually, she tucked one pajama-clad leg under the other, sitting sideways on the couch.  
  
“A bit different, actually,” the Doctor explained. “Although...same principles apply. All based on manipulation of energy and molecules and the nervous system.”  
  
“Blood control, though--bit of a cheap trick, that. Manipulating bodies by latching onto a genetic makeup--effective, but quite crude. Now mind control-- _there’s_  something that takes effort. Have to be a pretty strong telepath for that. Or use a very sophisticated machine. The humanoid mind is a complicated thing, Rose Tyler. All sorts of odds and ends.”  
  
“So we’re not just stupid apes, then?” she teased, her tongue flickering out from between her teeth.  
  
“Nah!” Unconsciously, he reached out and grabbed her feet, pulling them across his lap. She squeaked in surprise as his fingers began kneading the tight muscles of her arch. He looked up, bemused. “What?”  
  
“Nothin’,” she said. “‘S jus’...the old you never would’ve given me a foot massage.”  
  
“Oh.” He looked down, frowning. “Is that rude? Giving a foot massage without permission?”  
  
She laughed at that, and he looked even more confused, staring up at her like a little, lost puppy.  _Good different or bad different?_  he’d asked. As something twisted deep in her gut, she had to admit that maybe it wasn’t just different. She’d loved that daft old face. Of course she had, and she would have snogged it any day of the week, had he let her. But this one...  
  
God, she wanted to take that pouty lower lip between her teeth until he whimpered.  
  
The thought startled her. Shouldn’t it take her more time? Shouldn’t she still be grieving that gruff Northerner he’d been three days ago?  
  
“Rose?” His eyes were wide and uncertain, and she realized he was still waiting for her reply.  
  
“Not rude,” she assured him. “Jus’ unexpected, is all. A bit domestic,” she added with a teasing grin.  
  
“Oi!” he exclaimed, dropping her foot like a hot potato, “That, Rose Tyler--that’s playing dirty. Let’s stick with rude. Much better, rude. Gives me more character! Besides... _far_ less boring than domestic, that.”  
  
She giggled. “I dunno...there’s somethin’ t’ be said for domestic, yeah?”  
  
She expected another look of horror to appear on his face, but was surprised to see his brow knit, as though he were actually  _considering_  it. Well, that was new.  
  
As quickly as the look was there, it was gone. “Right then--back to your question! Humans have very complicated minds, actually. Not as complicated as Time Lords, mind you--our brains are far bigger, with quite a bit more functionality.”  
  
Rose rolled her eyes. “There’s you bein’ rude again,” she chided.  
  
“Oi--not rude! Just stating a fact. Human bodies are easier to manipulate, simply because you lot have far less control over your autonomic nervous system. Time Lords are immune to things like blood control because there’s a part of our great, big brains that constantly regulates our bodily functions on a semi-conscious level. And mind control...wellll, that’s a different animal entirely. Most humans have latent psychic abilities, but very little control over them. Time Lords are telepaths--we’re quite used to regulating our minds and keeping others out. Very few species in the universe that can break into a Time Lord’s mind, much less control it.”  
  
“An’ here I thought you were gonna explain why we’re not jus’ stupid apes,” she teased, giving a dramatic sigh.  
  
“Wellllll,” he said, absentmindedly reaching back out for her foot, “Your autonomic nervous system is one thing. Very easy to control with the right equipment. The human mind, though--might be a bit less sophisticated than a Time Lord’s brain, but it’s still quite resilient.”  
  
He was giving her a massage again, and she struggled to keep a straight face. This time, she wasn’t going to point it out, lest he stop.  
  
“Of course, some humans can be quite easily brainwashed,” he continued on, “And a few well placed words can do quite a bit of damage.”  
  
“Like with Harriet Jones,” Rose said.  
  
“Like with Harriet Jones,” he agreed gravely. “But...someone mucking around with the synapses of your brain? Creates an emergency response, that. Humans--they don’t like to  _think_  they’re being controlled, even when they are. Has to be much more insidious to work. Buried deep in the subconscious. You try to change the human mind on the surface--well, things tend to bleed through. That latent psychic ability? Sets off quite a few alarm bells.”  
  
“What did you say to ‘im?” she asked. “The man with Harriet...how did you do it?”  
  
He sighed. “Don’t you think she looks tired?”  
  
Her eyebrows lifted, and she chuckled incredulously. “That was it? That was all you said, an’ now she’s out of a job?”  
  
“Yep.” He grimly popped the ‘p.’  
  
“An’ the last you...” She hesitated. “Would you ‘ave done that too?”  
  
He sighed, letting go of her foot to rub his forehead. “Hard to say now, isn’t it? Don’t have the same personality, same responses...but I  _am_  him. Right down at the core. And, well...” He closed his eyes. “I could see the timelines, Rose,” he admitted. “That one decision...oh, Rose, it wasn’t  _just_  what she did. It’s what she  _would_  do. First step on a long, dangerous road.”  
  
“You said she was s’posed t’ start a Golden Age,” Rose pointed out.  
  
“Different timeline,” he explained. “Changed the minute she ordered the Sycorax ship destroyed.” He shook his head. “Besides...it was  _murder_.”  
  
“D’you think they really would’ve left us alone?” she asked softly.  
  
His jaw tightened. “They were leaving,” he said.  
  
“How does it work?” she asked. “You seein’ timelines? D’you always know what’s gonna happen?”  
  
His eyes turned back to focus on hers. “No,” he admitted. “Not always. Some...” He swallowed. “Some, I try to avoid. Yours, for instance. A million possible things that could happen to Rose Tyler. I’ll peek sometimes. If things are...well, if they get really bad. That’s...” He pursed his lips. “That’s why I sent you back. Before, on Satellite Five...I saw a billion ways for you to die.” He shook his head. “But sometimes...on a rare, rare occasion...I miss something. Something that Time itself doesn’t want me to see. Like Bad Wolf.”  
  
“We never did figure that out, yeah?”  
  
He shifted uncomfortably.  
  
“Doctor?” she asked, sitting up a bit straighter. “D’you know what Bad Wolf is?”  
  
He swallowed. “You.”  
  
“How d’you mean, me?”  
  
“You, Rose Tyler--you looked into the heart of the TARDIS. Merged with her, actually. The two of you--an amalgamation. That was Bad Wolf.” His hand found hers. “You destroyed them, Rose. The Daleks...scattered their molecules.” He paused. “Saved my life.”  
  
“I killed them?” she asked softly.  
  
“Yep,” he said.  
  
“An’...you didn’t know that was gonna happen?”  
  
“Nope.” He popped the ‘p.’ “Timelines are funny things. Can see every possibility in the entire universe.” He smiled wryly. “You felt it, Rose. When you were Bad Wolf...you told me so.” He sighed. “Having that knowledge...it can do things to a person. It’s the reason I try not to look. Takes the fun out. But some things, Rose...some things are crucial. Great, big turning points in history. And how she dealt with them...” He shook his head. “There are rules, Rose. Standards of decency. Destroying a ship...a ship  _full_  of lifeforms, when they were turning to leave...” His jaw clenched and he shook with barely repressed anger.  
  
“It sets a precedent,” he said. “It makes it easier, Rose--each time you do it. Each time you take a life...each time you make that decision. What’s one more? Because you justify it. It gets inside you--eats away at you. It’s in her, now. And it would have happened again.”  
  
She covered his hand with hers. “But you don’t, yeah? Not anymore.”  
  
“That’s thanks to you.” He smiled at her--a soft, shy smile, and then it faded. “Couldn’t even kill the Daleks. Would’ve destroyed the human race. And I couldn’t be responsible for that.” His entire face hardened. “Not again.”


End file.
